Nice Things Said

Back Cover Blurb

The sun was just beginning to rise when a faint, low-pitched rumbling sent a shiver down my spine. Within minutes the sound became so loud that it woke Julia. She jumped to her feet, peering into the rising sun. "Mother of God. Will you look at that!"

A wall of sand higher than a three-story building was swiftly gathering momentum. And worst part of all, it was heading our way. Hoping the rock would provide us some cover, I tied our dune buggies together and buried our water bottles in the sand.

For an hour and a half the wind howled, sheets of sand pounding the rock where we lay together, praying for the storm to pass. Then just as suddenly as the storm hit, it passed and the sky cleared. The mile-high cloud of dust once again settled upon the land.

Julia gasped and pointed her finger at the horizon. "Look! Is the desert playing tricks on us?"

Before us, in all of its unbridled majesty, were three sun-bleached masts of a ship.

"No. This is not an optical illusion. It's real. I'm sure of it. It's the ghost ship of the desert!" I exclaimed.

Against the backdrop of the polluted Salton Sea, Investigative Reporter Jonathan Bruckheimer is challenged to prove the existence of an old, land-locked Spanish galleon that many believe is the ghost ship of the desert. It is rumored to contain a large treasure trove of rare black pearls.

Things become complicated when Looney, a Native American Indian, who is instrumental to this quest, is murdered. Although the desert town of Brawley is small, the hunger for riches is great. This makes practically everyone in the community a suspect.

Risking the wrath of his editor, not to mention personal danger, Bruckheimer is determined to uncover the truth. Does the ghost ship of the desert actually exist? Who murdered Looney?

A Review

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In Michael Cole's tenth novel, Ghost Ship of the Desert, Jonathan Bruckheimer, an investigative reporter for a large Los Angeles newspaper, gets more than he bargained for when he is sent on a routine assignment to cover a brewing controversy over the Salton Sea.

A series of tumultuous twists and turns throw Bruckheimer's life into the throes of danger. A half-crazed, Native American Indian shows up at his doorstep bleeding profusely, hands him three spherical objects that resemble black pearls, and tries to persuade him to search for a land-locked Spanish galleon supposedly buried somewhere in the lower Colorado Desert. He also hints at a map that shows where it can be found.

But before the Indian can provide any answers, he dies. The more time Bruckheimer spends investigating the Indian's death and the existence of the Spanish galleon that some believe is the ghost ship of the desert, the more he finds himself facing personal danger.

To further complicate matters, he becomes involved with a beautiful environmentalist, who has an insanely jealous boyfriend. Bruckheimer is not sure who he can trust. Can he confide in the environmentalist? Can he trust an alcoholic who befriends him? The closer he comes to solving the Indian's untimely demise, one thing is certain. Someone in the small desert community of Brawley has set him up for a series of dire consequences that threaten his life.

The finely tuned cast of characters moves this mystery along at a fast pace.

Ghost Ship of the Desert was published by Foremost Press. It can be ordered through local bookstores and at ForemostPress.com, and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com.
ISBN 10: 1-939870-11-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-939870-11-7
200 pp, $13.97